PRO FOOTBALL; Today's Wild-Card Matchups

By FRANK LITSKY

Published: January 8, 2005

A tough game to figure. The keys may be Marc Bulger, the Rams' sore-shouldered quarterback, and Shaun Alexander, the Seahawks' sore (as in angry) running back.

When Bulger sat out two games last month with a bruised throwing shoulder, the Rams scored only one offensive touchdown and lost both. In last Sunday's overtime victory over the Jets, Bulger passed for 450 yards. His shoulder is still not right, but Bulger insisted that ''it's playable.''

In the last five minutes of Seattle's regular-season finale, the Seahawks faced second-and-goal at the Atlanta Falcons' 1-yard line. Alexander needed a yard to tie the Jets' Curtis Martin for the N.F.L. rushing title. Coach Mike Holmgren called for a quarterback sneak, Matt Hasselbeck got the yard, the Seahawks won and Alexander fumed.

''I got stabbed in the back,'' Alexander said. Holmgren said that he didn't know Alexander needed a yard, but that he would have called for the sneak anyway. Alexander later apologized to the fans, but not to his coach or his teammates.

Steven Jackson, the Rams' rookie running back, said, ''We're peaking at the right time.'' But the Rams are also on the road, where they are 2-6 this season.

Still, the Seahawks' defense is often unreliable. Referring to the Rams, Seattle cornerback Marcus Trufant said, ''They pass the ball all over the place.''

Jets (10-6) at San Diego Chargers (12-4)*
8 p.m., ABC

The Chargers are on a roll and the Jets are not. In one year, the Chargers have gone from 4-12 to 12-4, and they usually win comfortably.

Not so the Jets. After a 5-0 start, they went 5-6 and lost three of their last four games. Although Coach Herman Edwards said they did not back into the playoffs, defensive end Shaun Ellis sounded unsure, saying, ''Our mood is kind of like in the middle.''

A year ago, the Chargers seemed about to dump quarterback Drew Brees. He has made a grand turnabout, with 27 touchdown passes and only 7 interceptions. (Last season, he threw 11 touchdown passes and 15 interceptions.) Add LaDainian Tomlinson -- ''The best running back I've ever seen,'' Coach Marty Schottenhemier said -- and a new offensive line, and the Chargers' offense is tough to shut down.

The Jets have solid runners in Curtis Martin and LaMont Jordan, but quarterback Chad Pennington seems restricted by a sore rotator cuff in his throwing shoulder. The expected return of defensive end John Abraham should help a leaky defense, although his sprained right knee limits him to passing situations.

In the second week of the season, when the Jets were hot and the Chargers were not, the Jets won in San Diego. Brees dismissed that, saying: ''That feels like it was last season. It feels like it was two seasons ago. It feels so far away.''